Bangs in the night!

Last night we had an internet connection but when Jan rose this morning for her call back to Australia she discovered there was no internet.  Sometimes this can be rectified by turning the smartphone off and on.  But not today.  Returning to bed she mentioned the problem and then went on to mention she had heard two loud explosions followed by the sound of several sirens at 5.30am.

We have the outback external mobile phone aerial on the roof and have never failed to get a signal.

On checking the phone there was no network coverage for Three.  The second phone was then turned on and no Vodafone coverage.  My guess was Jan had heard the sound of a local electrical transformer exploding which then triggered building alarms.  By mid afternoon coverage had returned. 

Sorry FMIL…. That’s why there was no Skype call today!

Problems come in pairs.  The SD card in the camera has been playing up.  It works in the camera but when it’s removed and inserted into the laptop card reader it’s not recognised.  The external card reader doesn’t recognise it either.  Initially the only solution appeared to be a replacement card.  It’s an expensive camera (Canon EOS 550D) and you would think there would be another way of transferring the photos from the camera to the laptop.  However the manual for the camera only explains how to transfer audio-video from the camera to laptop via the proprietary cable. 

Not deterred by this a search on friend Google indicated the proprietary cable could be used to transfer photos.  After looking at the “proprietary” socket on the camera it appeared the standard mini USB cable plug might suffice.  It did; and the camera was recognised by the laptop.  This is actually a simpler way to transfer the photos.

In the afternoon Jan got working with the needles whilst waiting for heads to roll whilst I went to watch the locals teach their maggots to swim.  The have some rather attractive coloured maggots.  I guess it’s the diet?  The fish in England are obviously far cleverer than those down-under.  The know to stay well away from the fishermen.  This requires the fishermen to use very long poles in order to reach the far bank.  This seems rather silly to me.  Surely it would be easier to fish from the far bank with a short pole.  But then I don’t know much about fishing!

It’s rather interesting to observe how history has been layered (we call it progress).  At one location it’s obvious the lock was built first.

In the photo above you can see the original steps loading down from the end of the lock.  However a brick arch road bridge was subsequently built making the steps redundant.  As the size of the vehicles increase (and the volume of traffic) the original brick bridge was widened by adding a second arch

The two arches aren’t exactly the same size.

There is a cottage adjacent to Bumblehole Lock.  Perhaps the original lock keepers cottage.  The following black and white photo is my attempt to provide an impression of what it might have looked like.